Windows 7 - Registry Tweaks And Changes

Everyone likes to customize their operating system, some of us like to try and make it feel more responsive. This article walks you through a few simple registry edits that can improve your user experience. At the end of the article we have provided a download containing additional preconfigured registry tweaks to help you customize Windows 7.

If you have a favorite registry edit you would like to share send it to us and we will include it here and in the zip file below.

I started writing this while trying to find out how to disable full row select in details view, I hope you find it useful...anyone know how to disable full row select in details view?

Update :we have a solution.

The pre-made reg files are available at the bottom of the article, use the quick jump links to skip down and see what tweaks are included. The examples and information below are provided to help you understand or modify the existing reg files included in the download.

QUICK JUMP

All Tasks shortcut (God mode tweak)

Modify Memory Use

How To Disable Full Row Select, A Solution At Last

Add Items Or Programs To The Desktop And My Computer Context Menus

Modify Thumbnail Preview Delay In Aero Peek

Modify Live Previewl Delay In Aero Peek

Modify Global Mouse Hover Delay

How To Restart Explorer Rather Than Restarting Your Computer

Skip down to the info box where you can download pre-configured reg files At present there are 28 separate registry files in the download. Some reg files are included to undo a few of the changes.

The zip file contains additional tweaks such as a quick access menu which shows methods to add folders or applications to your context menu.

First things first, I have to be a responsible citizen so here is a warning an some advice for working with the registry...

• If you use the Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. 
• You implement these changes at your own risk. - don't e-mail me saying that I messed up your computer. I am not applying these tweaks to your computer...  you are.
• If you are going to modify the registry Always make a backup of the registry before you start.
• If you are going to create a reg file or copy the text from below Only create the reg files in a plain text editor like Notepad, DO NOT use WordPad or Word etc
• Use the down-loadable reg files below at your own risk. If you download reg files don't just apply them. Open them in Notepad and make sure you understand what they will do and how you can reverse it ( Always back up your registry)
• Please re-read points 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

OK now that's out of the way here is a secondary warning - don't believe those sites that say "OMG apply this, it WILL improve performance" If it improved performance for the majority of users Microsoft would have made it the default setting.
Some of the tweaks below will definitely improve the feel and responsiveness of your system, however some tweaks, particularly those that effect memory and file systems may actually degrade performance. 

It depends on your hardware and usage patterns as to whether you will actually benefit from applying a tweak or not. This is an assessment and decision you must make yourself.
 

 

 Create a shortcut to the "All Tasks" shell folder , the God Mode tweak.

Whe are going create an easy access point to the windows shell folder "All Tasks"

It is very simple to do, Create a new folder and name it anything.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

eg: AllTasks.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

or  GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

You will now have a shortcut to every setting on your computer. No new features or settings are displayed but it gives you a full list of tasks that can be accomplished within the  Control Panel. This is the folder that Windows 7 and Vista use for the control panel search.

This tweak will tell Windows to use more memory, it will have an effect on paged and non-paged memory allocation:

Click on the Start Button and type in Regedit and hit Enter, then browse to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem\NtfsMemoryUSage 

Double click the entry and modify it if you wish (Normal = 1, Increased = 2, Default = 1)

NOTE: the "increased"  setting is mainly for server systems which can be bombarded with file operations (Like a Web-Server). This modifies the memory use so that it can handle more concurrent file operations
NOTE: the "increased"  setting will use more of both paged and non-paged memory. Therefore make sure that existing services/drivers are not already using the available paged and non-paged memory, as these services might perform worse with less memory available.
 

How To Disable Full Row Select, A Solution At Last

In the comments below Nathan Sokalski was kind enough to point us in the right direction to find a solution to this frequently requested tweak. He provided a link to www.fiveanddime.net which refers to a method on www.winhelponline.com that actually works.

The article written by Ramesh Srinivasan, found here, points out that there are some side effects to this method.

As with all these modifications It is important that you read and understand what changes are being made so go visit the link and show winhelponline some love.

If you can't find the tweak at the above links skip down to the info box below where we have provided a mirror of this file.
( an undo reg file is also provided )

Thanks for the tip Nathan.

Add Items To The Desktop And My Computer Context Menus

In the download these are named  "Quick Access My Computer" and "Quick Access Desktop"

These add the following items to the context menu of either the desktop or my computer: 

• Snipping Tool
• Calculator
• Task Manager
• Programs and Features
• System Configuration
• God Mode

Look at the reg files to see how to add or modify the entries you would prefer. If you would like to add a program that you have installed you can do it as follows.

Add the subcommand

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\QuickAccess]
"SubCommands"="snip;calc;taskmgr;msconfig;appwiz;gmode;myapp"
"icon"="imageres.dll,152"
"Position"="Top"
 

Add the submenu item info

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\myapp]
@="My Application"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\myapp\command]
@="C:\\Program Files\\My Application\\My Application.exe"
 

These tweaks will make Windows feel more responsive by decreasing the time it takes for it to react to your input:

With the new Aero Peek that is part of Windows 7 you get a useful preview of an application when you hover over its taskbar item. After a set period of time, about 400 milliseconds, the taskbar preview is shown.If this wait is too long, or even too short for you , you can change it.
In regedit navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

• Right click on "Advanced" and select "New DWORD" and name the new value "ExtendedUIHoverTime". Under 64bit Windows you still choose DWORD, not QWORD
• Now right click on the new  ExtendedUIHoverTime that will appear in the right panel and select Modify.
• Switch the input value to Decimal and enter the delay you want - it is in milliseconds (1000 ms = 1 second), the default is 400 milliseconds. A good value is 100 or 200.
• Once you have made your changes just click OK and restart the Explorer process or restart your computer.

In addition to the preview image you get by hovering over an applications taskbar item,  Aero Peek will reveal the applications window by making all other applications appear only as outlines. This is the "live preview" and it is activated after you hover your cursor over the preview image for a brief period. If you would like to alter this delay you can
Once again open regedit and navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

• Right click on "Advanced" and select "New DWORD" and name the new value "ThumbnailLivePreviewHoverTime". As before under 64bit Windows you still choose DWORD, not QWORD
• Right click on "ThumbnailLivePreviewHoverTime" and select Modify.
• Switch to Decimal and enter in your desired delay time ( it is in ms again, just make it a positive value greater than 0). 
• Finish up by clicking OK then restart the explorer process or your computer.
   

The global system hover time will adjust the hover delay for your taskbar icons, start menu shortcuts ...everything:
Fire up regedit and navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse

• Right click on "MouseHoverTime" and select Modify.
• Set the new value. The default value is 400 milliseconds.
• Once you are happy , click OK and restart your computer or just restart the Explorer process.
   

How to restart the Explorer process:

1. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, and then click Task Manager.
2. Look for explorer.exe in the "Image Name" column of the "Processes" tab.
3. Right click on it and select "End Process".
4. Click "File" on the TaskManager menu.
5. Click New Task (Run...).
6. Type "explorer" in the Open field.
7. Click OK. Windows Explorer shell will restart.
 

Download  The Reg Tweaks And Modifications

There are two Zip files below the info box, one is a mirror of a method to disable full row select in details mode the other contains reg files to implement various tweaks and a few "undo" reg files to put the settings back to their defaults.- use them at your own risk.

The following items are currently included:

• Add copy to context item
• Add Delete Folder Contents context menu item
• Add move to context item
• Add run as take ownership context items
• Add Defrag To Drive Menu
• Add Defrag To Extended Drive Menu (hold shift)
• Disable Libraries in Windows 7
• Don't resolve broken links - set open with to don't search
• Only Remove Libraries Icon from Windows 7 Explorer
• Open With Notepad
• Reduce Live Preview wait time
• Reduce menu show delay
• Reduce mouse hover time
• Reduce preview time
• Reduce time wait for failed operations
• Remove low discspace check and warning
• Quick Access My Computer (Adds items or programs to the context menu)
• Quick Access Desktop (Adds items or programs to the context menu) 
• Remove Defrag From Drive Menu
• Remove Open With Notepad
• Restore Default Library Settings
• Remove copy to context item
• Remove move to context item
• Undo don't resolve broken links - set open with to don't search
• Undo reduce menu show delay
• Undo reduce mouse hover time
• Undo reduce time wait for failed operations
• Undo remove low discspace check and warning
   

If you have any tweaks/reg files of your own to add, send it to us and we will include them in the the article.

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Attachment	Date	Size
Registry tweaks.zip	06/10/09 11:39 pm	6.31 KB
w7-disable full row select.zip	15/07/10 1:06 am	1.67 KB